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Batteries in all of these autodarkening helmets

As far as I know, all of the autodarkening helmets have batteries whether you can see them or not. In the more expensive brands, they are easily replaceable. In the less expensive brands (e.g. Harbor Freight) you have to open the glued plastic case to get to them. The batteries are not really charged by the sunlight or welding arc; the light just supplements the batteries so they last longer. In another solar powered device at home there is a super capacitor that stores electricity generated when the sun shines, even though there are also batteries in the device. I don't know if welding helmets have super capacitors. At any rate, since access to the batteries is not easy, it makes sense to wire in an external battery pack with two AAA batteries. Those batteries inside the helmet aren't anything special other than that they're small enough to fit inside the case. Battery holders are available from Radio Shack. This repair with external batteries worked on a Harbor Freight helmet for someone in my welding class.

If you have the receipt from the store, they might be willing to replace it. Those helmets should last around 2-3 years of use until the batteries are run down and three months is awfully short. There could be another problem in the electronics that caused the batteries to run down, or they could have just been defective batteries. If the store won't replace it, you have nothing to lose by opening the case.

I've been using this helmet for over 2 years, got it as a gift in 12/10. It gets used for a dozen hours a week at the minimum. Today I started getting flashed everytime. Had to use my backup 12 shade helmet.

Gonna try to cut it open and replace the batteries. It's been a really nice helmet.

I've been using this helmet for over 2 years, got it as a gift in 12/10. It gets used for a dozen hours a week at the minimum. Today I started getting flashed everytime. Had to use my backup 12 shade helmet.

Gonna try to cut it open and replace the batteries. It's been a really nice helmet.

I didn't have to cut it open, it came apart with a thin blade screw driver. The batteries in my helmet was a CR2430, I have the replacements on the way. They appear to be soldered to the battery and the circuit board.